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472 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
Either the last-mentioned locality must be an attractive one to 
this species of hawk, or the keeper referred to is more than usually 
discriminating in his pursuit of so-called vermin, for in June, 1869, 
he shot another Hobby on the same property at Newtown Barry, and 
the owner, Mr. R. W. Hall Dare, not only forwarded a note of the 
occurrence, which was published in ‘ The Field’ of July 3rd, 1869, 
but was good enough at the same time to send the bird for identifica- 
tion; so that any doubt which might have existed as to the species 
being correctly named by him was thereby removed. 
On referring to his note, I find that allusion is made to a 
specimen of the Hobby in the Belfast Museum, but I learn from 
Mr. Douglas Ogilby that this is probably a mistake, since he has 
ascertained, from Mr. Darragh, the Curator of the Museum in 
question, that the only, example of Falco subbuteo in the collection 
is a badly stuffed specimen from the South of France. 
In ‘The Zoologist’ for 1875 (p. 4537), Mr. John Sclater has 
recorded the capture of an adult female Hobby, which was shot by 
Mr. H. A. Hamilton at Balbriggan, County Dublin, on the 7th 
June, 1875, and was forwarded to him in the flesh. An examination 
of the contents of the stomach revealed the previouly unsuspected 
fact that the Hobby sometimes preys upon bats, for two skulls 
with the under jaw-bones attached and some wing-bones of bats 
were brought to light. 
For my own part, | am not much surprised at this, for the 
Hobby, like its congener, the Red-footed Falcon, seeks much of 
its prey at twilight, when moths and beetles are on the wing, and 
would therefore be likely at times to meet with bats. A flight ata 
Noctule with a Hobby would be a sight to gladden the eye of a 
falconer, and although this large bat flies so high, and is capable 
of turning very rapidly, I make no doubt that the Hobby could 
take it if so minded, for I have known this bird to pursue and 
overtake a Swallow—a much more nimble prey. 
From the foregoing notes it would appear that there are at least 
five well-authenticated instances of the occurrence of the Hobby 
in Ireland, and it is not unreasonable to assume that others may 
have escaped observation. Greater attention being given now-a- 
2 days to Ornithology, and more exactness in the method of ob- 
serving, it is not unlikely that Irish naturalists will find this bird 
to be a more frequent visitor in summer to Ireland than has been 
hitherto suspected. 
